Looking for a hard travel case for (1) bike. I want minimal disassembly. Any recommendations?
get a trico hard case, it works well and you only need to disassemble the bars!
Trico Iron cases has worked well for me, although this is the only one I’ve ever used.
A triathlete that I know who works for Air Canada and posts here under Trican1 recommended the trico ironcase to me as the best one for making sure that your bike will get where it is meant to as safely as possible. I used one last year to take my bike to Hawaii and all I had to do was remove the seat and post, wheels and stem face plate to shift the bars down. It fit without removing the pedals and I also had all my gear (shoes, helmet, pump, etc.) in the case for the trip.
Trico is the way to go!
When I was looking for a hard case, I went to the guys at InsideOut sports when they were working an Ironman event. I asked them and they definitely recommended the trico. They said they saw the least amount of damaged bikes with it and also it was the easiest to pack. I figure they should know and were unbiased.
I recently bought a Triall 3 custom road case. The only disassembly is taking off the wheels, removing the seat and post, and loosening the handlebars. Packing and unpacking takes maybe 15 minutes. They recently upgraded the plastic and the latches to make it more durable. Great case.
I have a Tri All 3 Custom Road case. It’s great for quick (dis)assembly and really solid. Keep in mind though it doesn’t fit in most car trunks - need to rent a minivan.
Trico, hands down. I have used just about everything, and am buying the Trico. The best thing about it is the massive amount of extra crap you can stuff in it. When I raced in Europe this summer, the sponsor schwagged everyone on the team out massively; it was ridiculous, and everyone wound up having to give lots of stuff away - everyone but me - I just stuffed it in the Trico. The extra stuff I was able to bring home is paying for the case…
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I suggest Trico hard case, it takes more disassembly of the bike compared to TriAll3 Compact VeloSafe (I or II) but it is not quite as heavy and bulky. I found that many Airports in Europe don’t accept TriAll3 Compact VeloSafe anymore due to it’s weight. It’s not the airlines who give you a hard time, it’s the local labor laws of airports that came up with weight limits recently. Zurich/Switzerland for instance is 30 kg, about 65 pounds. You are ok on the arrival coming from the US, but they don’t allow you to take it back unless you unpack and get the weight down. So be prepared to bring a separate bag for unpacking. Some US airports and carriers seem to follow suit.
www.eurocycler.com Serious Training.Serious Fun. European Bicycle Vacation with a Performance Edge.
Richard Debrot
Another vote for the Ironcase.
SciCon hard case worked slightly better for me. Disassembly is about the same as for Trico, for my 58cm, frame but I didn’t have to remove the derailleur with the Scicon.
Fits all the extra stuff, supplies, and souvenirs. Runs on 4 wheels rather than 2 so is a little nicer to manage vs. having to hang on to that nylon strap with 30 kilos of stuff in your box.
The bike wheels bolt in to the top of the box so you don’t have to move them and two layers of foam each time you open the case to put more in or make sure something is already there.
Handles could be a little better though and you have to put a zip tie around one of the latches to attach baggage tags. However two of the latches have combination locks.
Fit it in the trunk of a Chevy Impala with bags for 3. Don’t think any regular cars in the European rental fleets fit either case and that much stuff.
Trico:
bars loosened and and spun, maybe taken off
pedals off
seatpost and saddle out
wheels off
awesome case
The new Thule case looks nice too…
The best value for your money is definitely this one:
You can check it at:
(unfortunately only in dutch) 
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quick note on the Trico: With the new airline 50lb weight restrictions sometimes it’s tough to get the Trico under legal weight, so you may get an overweight PLUS bike charge. Don’t pack tons of extra stuff in it, yeah bummer but I’ve seen quite a few problems at airports recently because of it. The Tri-All-Three cases that fork mount the bike are a lot lighter but imo don’t last as long and are a pain to get in a car or stack.
I own a Performance Cargo case…
http://www.performancebike.com/shop/profile.cfm?SKU=973&estore_ID=113
I have used it a half dozen of time myself and have rent it at least more then 20 times. I never had a problem and neither the people that I have rent it. It’s easy to pull it in the airports and one important thing is it fits in more then 95% of the car if you have back seat that flip down don’t need a SUV. I put everthing in it…I mean tons of stuff (even swim fins)! My regular luggage doesn’t contain a single piece of equipment everything goes in the box. OK, I’m lying it has my swimsuit and race clothing… 
It would fit but it’s simply a personal preference.
A tip I can give you is to rent your box… mine is well paid by others! I get to have a free box and I even making money with it… The local bike shop here rent them from 40-50$ per week. I have rent mine at the begining $20 and now $25 per week. Usually people use them for 10 days but I only charge one week. Yes, the box has some scratches because It has travelled but the important is what it’s inside.
My last tip is to go to your local hardware store and get tubes of foam (it’s really cheap) and you can use them to put around your bike frame tubes, very convenient and it prevents bike paint chip.
Alex
Like ‘Pink Bike’, I’m very happy with my SciCon. It does weigh a bit though.